I'm not an insider, nor am I part of their crew, but here's a tiny bit of insight. In actuality, it's not a 12 string. It's a custom 10 string Guild. You can see it in the St. Louis videos.

The guitar players among you know that Keith plays WH in his five string, open G tuning. So a "12 string" version of that actually has 10 strings. We all know that the Stones have the best back line team in the business. They knew WH was the winner of the song vote well ahead of time. But when the time came, there was a bit of a scramble because for whatever reason, the 10 string wasn't good to go. (For sure, it wasn't lost or misplaced.)

What this tells us is that it's very unlikely that they tour with two of these 10 string guitars, having a backup readily available in the event of any issue. (They may not actually bring "75 guitars," but in almost every case, there's an easy backup available for him whether it's in regular tuning, open G, open G with the capo, and probably even for the Jr. with the capo at the 7th for MR. But bringing two 10 string acoustics? Seems like no.)

So, here's most likely what happened:

As they were playing Beast of Burden, the 10 string was being prepped so it would be ready for Keith when it came to for his guitar switch. So either:

1) In tuning the guitar, one of the high strings broke, and there wasn't enough time to get a new string on and properly stretched.

2) When they pulled the guitar out, something was wrong, perhaps with the onboard electronics. (Although it's obviously an acoustic guitar, all their acoustics have pickups so that they can roam the stage as they wish.)

And with no backup immediately available, he eventually grabbed one of his 5 string Telecasters and we were treated to a very special version of the song.

Thanks, vibrolux, for these thoughts.

I thought, that was a hilarious moment and the impression of seeing the band behaving really live. Though loved that moment, Keith most surely didn't. We was kind of naked without his guitar at hand at the right moment.

Mick, I find, was really c-o-o-l, saying to Keith, that in this case, he must use another guitar ...

And yes, a 10 string with open tuning. Because I myself own a 12 string, Iknow about tuning this instrument. It can take time and maybe it just went of of tune enough to make it unproper to play live. But I doubt it.

It could have been some other reason, like one of those you listed.

But I do think, that Keith played WH on a Tele with open tuning before, although right now i can't tell you exactly where and when ...

God I love this band!

<But I do think, that Keith played WH on a Tele with open tuning before>

More often than not.

Never mind how Keith felt, I bet the back up team were mortified and panicking. In fact, it was a rather charming interlude, as well as giving us a different version of WH. I thought Mick sounded very laid-back as he took the opportunity to remember it was the 60th anniversary of his meeting with Keith. I wonder if he was thinking about all the times Keith has kept him waiting since then!

Quote
Irix




[www.YouTube.com] - (Pos. 33:35).

From 32:25. Mick is out front ready to sing, but Keith runs out to tell him...

"Apparently we're missing a guitar. We've got about 75 guitars up here at least, but we can't find the one we want - there's too many of them. We can't find the 12-string!
It was the No.2 guitar...
Well, you'll have to do it with another one, then..."

So at that point, while everyone searches, Mick tells us about the meeting on Dartford station, until...

"Well, we've found A guitar. It's not the one we wanted, but... " and Wild Horses starts.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2021-10-22 07:14 by Green Lady.

@Lady Jane:

Yes absolutely, backstage, Keith's guitar technican must have been sh*tt*ng his pans!

Then again:

WOAH! I think, this is the first time, The Rolling Stones are on stage and are missing a guitar!!!

Just hilarious! And then came, what's the Stones is about: Some unexpected trouble happens, some improvising is needed - and The Stones are double-fresh and running on all intuitive cylinders...

Even from YouTube you can catch, how good they play live in 2021.

God I love this band!

Oh, and after visiting the LA 2 show on YT, I found 2 instances, where the band went off and had to stumble into the track again (do you say like that?) while they play

a) GS

and

b) JJF

When I was listening to the feeds, I remember to have slightly wondered what that was, but generally, that was nice.

Now I can use the YT videos, it's more clear what happens and how they manage it ... just great and kind of funny!

They do have large racks of guitar backstage, but they are of course not prepared all of them. So this was a special guitar, and Keith fixed it. I am sure Pierre had a tough time truing to fix the acoustic 10-string but then it took too long, and Mick was impatient, so we got it electric and no worries.

It has happened before. I remember one time on the B-stage at MSG 1998, then Keith changed the set list because of a guitar problem Ronnie had. I wrote the following in my report then:

They did It's Only Rock'n Roll first. The sound was really muddy, but it improved, and the song itself was great. Then they were about to do The Last Time, which was in the pre-printed setlist. But Ronnie could not get any guitar to work properly. Ronnie tried out another guitar, then another guitar. He looked really disappointed. Mick was wandering around like a mad dog. Did a quick conversation with Keith. Keith stood calmly on his side, and then Keith just started to play a blues. Hey, we are getting extra blues while Ronnie is fixing his guitar! Then Ronnie is taking off his jacket, and I expect him to beat up somebody, or freak out. But the blues riffs Keith is doing suddenly develops into Little red Rooster, a spontanous choice made by Keith this very moment!

Madison Square Garden
New York, NY
Wednesday Jan. 14, 1998

Bjornulf

Quote
bv
Hey, we are getting extra blues while Ronnie is fixing his guitar! Then Ronnie is taking off his jacket, and I expect him to beat up somebody, or freak out. But the blues riffs Keith is doing suddenly develops into Little red Rooster, a spontanous choice made by Keith this very moment!

Madison Square Garden
New York, NY
Wednesday Jan. 14, 1998

Woah. Must be like watching them while rehearsing... trying to get the best out of the song ...

Great Memories indeed, thanks for sharing.

And yes, thta's very special moments where you can see, hear and feel how the band is ticking in those moments. Really special.

As said before, in GS and JJF, you can see them handling glitches nicely while the gig is on...

Quote
bv
It has happened before. I remember one time on the B-stage at MSG 1998, then Keith changed the set list because of a guitar problem Ronnie had. I wrote the following in my report then:

They did It's Only Rock'n Roll first. The sound was really muddy, but it improved, and the song itself was great. Then they were about to do The Last Time, which was in the pre-printed setlist. But Ronnie could not get any guitar to work properly. Ronnie tried out another guitar, then another guitar. He looked really disappointed. Mick was wandering around like a mad dog. Did a quick conversation with Keith. Keith stood calmly on his side, and then Keith just started to play a blues. Hey, we are getting extra blues while Ronnie is fixing his guitar! Then Ronnie is taking off his jacket, and I expect him to beat up somebody, or freak out. But the blues riffs Keith is doing suddenly develops into Little red Rooster, a spontanous choice made by Keith this very moment!

Madison Square Garden
New York, NY
Wednesday Jan. 14, 1998

I found the video of the 1998 concert bv described. It’s at about 12 minutes.
[youtu.be]

Quote
waterrats
...And then came, what's the Stones is about: Some unexpected trouble happens, some improvising is needed - and The Stones are double-fresh and running on all intuitive cylinders...

Exactly! I loved it!!

From this semi-awkward situation, we ended up with a special version of WH.

Quote
vibrolux

Quote
waterrats
...And then came, what's the Stones is about: Some unexpected trouble happens, some improvising is needed - and The Stones are double-fresh and running on all intuitive cylinders...

Exactly! I loved it!!

From this semi-awkward situation, we ended up with a special version of WH.

Yes indeed.

Here is the moment in GS, when I think, something went wrong and then they fixed it: From 2:15 until about 3:00





And for JJF, I think, at about 2:37, Keith starts too early into the riff down the fret:





What do you think? Isn't it great, how they struggle with that and then come out stronger?



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2021-10-23 04:22 by waterrats.

This reminds me of the Globe arena show in Stockholm in 2003. The setlist had You Got Me Rocking as song number 2, but Keith played the opening riff to If You Can’t Rock Me. Ronnie had the wrong guitar and no wah pedal ready. The backline techs sorted it out while Ronnie did some air guitar.

Quote
bv
They do have large racks of guitar backstage, but they are of course not prepared all of them. So this was a special guitar, and Keith fixed it. I am sure Pierre had a tough time truing to fix the acoustic 10-string but then it took too long, and Mick was impatient, so we got it electric and no worries.

It has happened before. I remember one time on the B-stage at MSG 1998, then Keith changed the set list because of a guitar problem Ronnie had. I wrote the following in my report then:

They did It's Only Rock'n Roll first. The sound was really muddy, but it improved, and the song itself was great. Then they were about to do The Last Time, which was in the pre-printed setlist. But Ronnie could not get any guitar to work properly. Ronnie tried out another guitar, then another guitar. He looked really disappointed. Mick was wandering around like a mad dog. Did a quick conversation with Keith. Keith stood calmly on his side, and then Keith just started to play a blues. Hey, we are getting extra blues while Ronnie is fixing his guitar! Then Ronnie is taking off his jacket, and I expect him to beat up somebody, or freak out. But the blues riffs Keith is doing suddenly develops into Little red Rooster, a spontanous choice made by Keith this very moment!

Madison Square Garden
New York, NY
Wednesday Jan. 14, 1998

great moment, love it as I do the "WH case", in the end keith played a great version of it, imo